Energy Focused Coalition Expands Membership

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) has announced four new member companies. The DRSG is the trade association for companies that provide products and services in the demand response and smart grid area. The newest member companies are Honeywell, Echelon Corporation, Ambient Corporation, and Steffes Corporation.

Dan Delurey, executive director of DRSG, which is headquartered in Washington, DC, said the new members help to show the diversity of technologies and product offerings in the smart grid space. “While many people are expressing support for the smart grid these days,” he said, “not everyone understands what kinds of things make up the smart grid. A look at our new members, and at the existing members of the Coalition, shows that there are many companies ready and able to start building the smart grid and deploying demand response to optimize its operation.”

Honeywell’s activities include energy efficiency and renewable energy and all aspects of demand response (from smart thermostats and automated building controls to program design, marketing, and delivery).

Echelon’s LonWorks(R) Infrastructure products extend the smart grid to everyday devices made by thousands of companies, connecting them to each other and the grid.

Steffes Corporation is a manufacturer of Electric Thermal Storage (ETS) off-peak heating equipment for residential and small commercial applications. ETS allows low-cost electricity to be stored in the form of heat for use throughout the day.

Delurey also took the opportunity of the announcement to comment on the Stimulus Bill which the Congress is poised to send to President Obama for his signature. “We are pleased as an industry to see the Stimulus bill include support for the Smart Grid. We believe that the funds provided to DOE for Smart Grid grants will be very important not only in helping the Smart Grid industry to grow and expand, but also in the creation of jobs and meeting other objectives of the Stimulus effort. We also are pleased to see new funding in the area of energy efficiency, given that most parties now recognize that to do energy efficiency properly today it is important to include demand response in efficiency programs and efforts. We are pleased to be part of the Stimulus Plan and look forward to moving forward to put smart grid technologies and practices in place.”

About DRSG DRSG works to educate and provide information to policymakers, utilities, the media, the financial community and stakeholders on how demand response and smart grid technologies such as smart meters can help modernize the electricity system and provide customers with new information and options for managing their electricity use. DRSG is the new name for the Demand Response and Advanced Metering Coalition (DRAM) which was founded in 2001. The new name was adopted to reflect the growth in diversity of the organization’s members and the breadth of smart grid products and services that they provide.

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